Cocktail servers at Resorts Casino Hotel will begin wearing these Roaring '20s-themed costumes on Memorial Day weekend. A union leader says Resorts fired 16 middle-aged women after a modeling agency felt they did not look good in the skimpy outfits.

Cocktail servers at Resorts Casino Hotel will begin wearing these Roaring '20s-themed costumes on Memorial Day weekend. A union leader says Resorts fired 16 middle-aged women after a modeling agency felt they did not look good in the skimpy outfits.

ATLANTIC CITY - Resorts Casino Hotel was slapped Thursday with a
discrimination lawsuit that claims the gaming hall fired
middle-aged cocktail servers to make way for younger women who
supposedly looked better in skimpy new costumes.

The state Superior Court suit alleges Resorts and its new owner,
Dennis Gomes, created a "sham evaluation process" in which cocktail
servers auditioned in the sexy outfits and then were judged on
their appearance by a modeling agency representing the casino. The
middle-aged employees who did not fit Gomes' "body ideal or
appearance ideal" were fired, while younger, sexually attractive
women got the job, the suit contends.

Seven former cocktail servers are listed as plaintiffs. They
were among 15 middle-aged women who were recently let go by Resorts
after the modeling agency concluded they did not look good in the
new costumes.

The litigation was filed one day after The Press of Atlantic
City reported on the firings. Initial reports said 16 middle-aged
women were fired.

Resorts released a statement defending its employment practices,
sating the new costumes are a "critical aspect" of the casino's
rebranding into a Roaring '20s theme under the new ownership of
Gomes and New York real estate magnate Morris Bailey.

"All cocktail servers were given individual consideration and
the selection process was conducted in a fair and objective
manner," Resorts spokeswoman Courtney Birmingham said in the
statement. "We empathize with the cocktail servers who lost their
jobs and gave them hiring preference in other open positions at
Resorts. Some took advantage of this offer and some did not."

Resorts hopes to attract younger customers to the casino by
creating a sexier atmosphere, including having cocktail servers
dress up in costumes reminiscent of the 1920s flapper girls. The
backless outfits, cut high up the thigh, are accented by fishnet
stockings and high heels. Resorts will debut the costumes Memorial
Day weekend.

Kevin M. Costello, a New Jersey attorney representing the former
cocktail servers, said Resorts and Gomes had no intention of
keeping middle-aged women who they thought "weren't feminine
enough." He argued that looking fashionable or sexy in revealing
costumes is not a legal job requirement for cocktail servers.

"As far as I'm concerned, a man or woman can do that job at any
age as long as they have a good personality, a good memory and good
balance," Costello said in an interview.

Robert McDevitt, president of Local 54 of UNITE-HERE, which
represents casino cocktail servers throughout Atlantic City,
alleged Resorts targeted its older workers. He said Resorts has
kept less than a third of approximately 70 cocktail servers who
worked for the casino under its prior ownership.

On March 16, Costello filed a separate discrimination suit on
behalf of 39 former cocktail servers who lost their jobs in an
earlier round of firings. Costello said Resorts deliberately tried
to avoid discrimination complaints at that time by retaining a
diverse group of 25 women - including some middle-aged employees as
"decoys." Later, he said, the casino used the new costumes as a
ploy for firing middle-aged women.

"In both lawsuits, we contend that the Gomes companies and Mr.
Gomes himself conceived a plan to make it appear as if there was no
age or gender discrimination," Costello said.

Earlier this week, Gomes declined to comment on the firings
other than to say they were conducted in a "fair and balanced way."
Resorts declined to comment Thursday beyond Birmingham's prepared
statement.

The lawsuits ask the court to reinstate the fired cocktail
servers, with full pay. The plaintiffs also are seeking unspecified
damages. Both suits noted that additional discrimination complaints
will be filed against Resorts in the future.